For Smink, recycling his campaign signs to Republican puts him at odds with Democratic Party

With the help of some spray paint, some of former Democratic District 2 Brevard County Commission candidate Jack Smink's campaign signs, like this one in Rockledge, have been converted to campaign signs supporting republican Bryan Lober signs. Smink gave Lober permission to make the sign transformation.

MALCOLM DENEMARK/FLORIDA TODAY

Dave Berman |
Florida Today |
4:34 pm EDT September 8, 2018

Defeated Brevard County Commission candidate Jack Smink says he just was trying to recycle the used lumber from his campaign signs — and avoid being assessed a penalty for not removing his signs quickly enough after the primary election.

But the decision by Smink — who lost an Aug. 28 County Commission District 2 Democratic primary to Victoria Mitchner — to give some of his sign materials to a Republican who will run against Mitchner resulted in Smink becoming a persona non grata in the local Democratic Party.

Smink was asked to give up his position as a Democratic precinct committeeman. On his own, Smink also dropped his Democrat political party registration to become a "no party affiliation" voter.

Smink said, after losing the primary, he was contacted by both attorney Bryan Lober, a Republican running for District 2 county commissioner, and teacher and former Cocoa Mayor Mike Blake, a Democrat running for Florida House in District 51.

Smink said both Lober and Blake asked if they could have some of his sign lumber, and he agreed to give them both some.

Bryan Lober

PROVIDED PHOTO

But Democratic officials weren't pleased when they saw a social media post Tuesday on Lober's campaign Facebook page that read in part: "My thanks to Jack Smink for allowing me to take over nearly all of his signs in the D2 race! Jack and I spent a good while today spray-painting over his face, name and party in Rockledge, as the city is insanely strict about timelines for removing signs. Any reference to Jack was removed, and I have little yard signs of mine stapled over them to bide time until the larger ones are ready from the printer."

Smink said he was facing a deadline for removing his signs after losing in the primary — exacerbated by dealing with a recent death in his family — and he wanted to do something to avoid a $100 penalty he would have faced for not removing his signs in time.

"It was an easy solution," Smink said. "I just gave away the lumber. It was a business decision, plain and simple."

Smink already had put $8,970 of his own money into the race, and said he didn't want to lose any more money on his losing campaign.

Smink said he decided to leave the Democratic Party on Tuesday after receiving a call — he won't say from whom — telling him party officials were upset that he gave his sign hardware to Lober.

"I left before they asked me to leave," Smink said. "They got what they wanted."

Brevard Democratic Executive Committee Secretary Catherine Martinez said she called Smink on Wednesday to tell him he no longer could be a Democratic precinct committeeman. That's because he no longer was a registered Democrat and because he was helping a Republican candidate, a violation of the "loyalty oath" precinct committeepeople must abide by.

"I called him, and asked him for his resignation" as a committeeman, Martinez said.

In an interview Friday, Lober said he appreciates Smink's help, adding that he didn't want Smink to get in trouble with municipal officials by not getting rid of his signs in time to avoid any penalties.

Lober said, with Smink's help, he converted about 15 Smink signs — mostly on Merritt Island and in Rockledge — to his own signs.

Lober said he will declare the value of the lumber he received from Smink in a future campaign finance report as an "in-kind contribution."

In his first run for elective office, Lober, an attorney, defeated former Brevard County Commissioner Chuck Nelson in the Aug. 28 Republican primary by a margin of 55.60 percent to 44.40 percent.

So Lober now will face Mitchner in the Nov. 6 general election.

After five years in the Army and nearly 10 years in the Army Reserve, Mitchner worked for three years in county government for the public works and human resources departments.

The incumbent District 2 commissioner, Republican Jim Barfield, is not seeking re-election, citing business commitments.

The Democratic primary was Smink's second unsuccessful run for office. Running as a no party affiliation candidate, Smink lost the 2014 general election to Barfield.

In that election, Barfield received 62.32 percent of the vote, Smink received 27.78 percent and Libertarian candidate J.J. McCurry received 9.90 percent.

In reflection on his election loss, Smink said, in addition to losing by a wide margin, "I took a beating, personally, from the people that didn't want me there. They would not let up on me. I don't like all the infighting that goes on in politics. It's sad."

Martinez said, Democratic Party officials cannot take sides in their official roles in contested Democratic primaries like the one between Smink and Mitchner. For example, they cannot campaign for one of the candidates while wearing their Democratic Party shirts or name tags, and they cannot use party-bought voter lists.

But they can support one candidate or the other while on their own time.

Smink said, at this point, he has not endorsed either Lober or Mitchner in the general election. And he's not sure either candidate would seek his endorsement, in light of his performance in the primary.

"It didn't go my way," Smink said. "I did my best, and I ran as hard as I could run. I'm done with all that right now. They put a fork in me."